3 Ingredient Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies (No Flour, Refined Sugar, Butter or Oil)
These soft peanut butter cookies are healthier than regular peanut butter cookies and easy to make. They are just 3 ingredients and don’t contain any flour, refined sugar, dairy butter or oil. The cookies are ready in about 20 minutes. They store well and make a great snack or dessert.
These peanut butter cookies are soft and lightly sweetened. My family has been snacking on these quite often the last few weeks. I love how quick and easy they are to make and they store well.
Ingredients
- Peanut butter
- Maple Syrup
- Egg
Peanut butter: These cookies are made with unsweetened natural peanut butter. Make sure you use natural peanut butter, which is peanut butter that does not have any added oils. The only ingredients should be peanuts and salt.
Maple syrup: The cookies are lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup. The syrup also helps act as a binding agent and helps the cookie dough thicken.
Egg: Egg is used as a binding agent for these cookies. The egg will need to be whisked before adding it to the dough.
How to Make Healthier Peanut Butter Cookies
The peanut butter, maple syrup and whisked egg are all mixed together until the syrup and egg are fully incorporated into the peanut butter and a dough forms. The dough is then scooped out using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop. The dough balls are flattened slightly to form thick round disks. Then use a fork to make criss-cross indents across the surface.
The cookies will need about ten minutes to bake in the oven. Once cooled they are ready to be enjoyed.
Cookie Texture and Sweetness
These cookies have a soft texture and are lightly sweetened. If you desire more sweetness you can add chocolate chips or roll them in sugar but I found the cookies to be sweet enough on their own.
More Peanut Butter Recipes
- 2 Ingredient No Bake Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Crispy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
3 Ingredient Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (256 g) unsweetened natural peanut butter
- 1 large egg, whisked
- 1/4 cup (59 ml) pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Add peanut butter, whisked egg and maple syrup into a large mixing bowl. Stir with a spatula until maple syrup and egg are completely incorporated into the peanut butter and your mixture begins to thicken to a cookie dough consistency.
- Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, scoop dough and place onto a prepared cookie sheet, spacing the dough about 2 inches apart. Press down on each dough ball with the palm of your hand so that it forms a thick round disk. Don't flatten the dough fully because it will get flattened more when you make the criss-cross pattern. Use a fork to make a criss-cross pattern on the surface of each cookie.
- Bake cookies for about 10 minutes. Cookies should crack slightly during baking and look dry on the surface when done. Let cookies fully cool on baking sheet before removing.
Notes
- Make sure to use natural peanut butter that has no added oils. This recipe will not work with the same with regular peanut butter.
- This recipe works best with pure maple syrup. Honey changes the texture of the cookies.
- You don't have to make the criss-cross pattern across the surface, but if you choose to leave it off, then flatten your cookies a little more to the thickness you want the final outcome to be before baking.
- You can halve the recipe if you want to make less but you will need to make sure you only add half a whisked egg. If you add a full egg, the cookies will turn out oily and have a gummy texture.
I made these as the recipe said, but I never really got a dough to form. I wasn’t sure what I did wrong. I spooned what I had onto the cookie sheet, and flattened them a bit. I baked them for 10 minutes and they came out ok, but not fully formed. As some other reviewers said, I would add oats next time, to thicken up the dough. I ate a couple of the cookies after they cooled, and they were pretty good, just not as “cookie-like” as I’d hoped. I’ll make these again, but with oats.
We’re not sure what could have went wrong! Be sure to stir with a spatula until all of the ingredients are combined and your mixture begins to thicken to a cookie dough consistency. We also don’t recommend to flatten the dough fully because it will get flattened more when you make the criss-cross pattern!
I made these today. Quick, easy and hit the spot. I threw some mini chocolate chips in them, too.
Yum! We’re glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I was craving a cookie and I found this email bc of my gluten intolerance. I used oats to thicken some because this recipe did not form a dough. I used all natural peanut butter when the only ingredients is just peanuts and pure maple syrup. the oates helped the texture.
I gave it a 3 because i think the 350 degree setting is too high for the cookie, it didn’t burn but it smelled like it did. I will try again on a lower setting.
Oven temperatures can vary so best to keep an eye on it next time!
Not a cookie. I feel I wasted good peanut butter and maple syrup.
They are cookies, just not a traditional peanut butter cookie. Was there something in particular you didn’t like?
My family’s consensus is: these were pretty good. Not too sweet, but sweet enough to satisfy a craving. The texture was good as they held together. Would make again.
That’s great! Thanks for letting us know.
These were not good! I wish I didn’t waste a whole cup of peanut butter!
We’re sorry you didn’t enjoy them. Was there something in particular you didn’t like?
Did like the recipe said and the texture was alittle to runny like and not thick enough to form a ball. Gonna try oats in it next time.
Did you make them with natural peanut butter and pure maple syrup? Because if you used peanut butter with added oils or you used a different kind of sweetener like honey, then your mixture will be runny instead of a thick dough.
Can I substitute stevia for the maple syrup?
We’ve only tested this recipe with maple syrup. Other liquid sweeteners may not work so we don’t recommend it.
The math is a little off per cookie. Each cookie would have approximately 10g of fat, 6g of carbs and close to 130 calories.
Based on 3 cups of whole peanuts make approximately 1 cup peanut butter.
Sounds like a great cookie but keeping it real on nutritional facts would keep one from eating 1 or 2 cookies if counting calories. 10g of fat is still a lot per healthy cookie, too
the nutrition estimate is based off of the information provided by the nutrition label on the peanut butter. Also, I think your assumption is off. While I did not make my own peanut butter, my understanding from a quick review of homemade pb recipes is that 3 cups of peanuts is going to yield about 1 3/4 cups of pb, not 1 cup.
Please send me your Receipe’s
You can sign up for our Recipe Emails!
Have you tried making these with Almond Butter and if so, any changes?
No, but as long as it’s unsweetened natural almond butter it should work fine. The flavor will just be different.